


We All Have a Hunger

by rococowitch



Series: When the Night Comes [9]
Category: When The Night Comes (Visual Novel)
Genre: Other, anyway jude and august are best friends and get through shit TOGETHER, she doesn't handle them really well, things get serious here, this might be a sensitive area so please be warned, this time i poured all my own issues into jude
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:07:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22180780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rococowitch/pseuds/rococowitch
Relationships: Finnegan Kazimir/Original Female Character(s)
Series: When the Night Comes [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1596103
Kudos: 12





	We All Have a Hunger

August closes their eyes and rubs their temples as they attempt to process the words just spoken to them. “Let me get this straight. You said Hunter Ainsworth had a  _ harp _ delivered to the Wolf?”

The barmaid in front of them glowers. “That’s what I said, Enforcer Willenheim.” Edna jerks her chin up at August. “I hear quite a ruckus up there too, a few times a day, but she hasn’t come down. Not even to see that Kazimir, though he comes ‘round and clears my stores of whiskey waiting for her from dusk ‘til dawn. Point is, she’s been disturbing the guests like, and she doesn’t fall under my purview.” August opens their eyes and puts up a hand.

“I’ll take care of it, Edna. Thank you.” Their tone is clipped and clearly agitated. However, Edna is seemingly satisfied and she turns on her heel, leaving without another word. Inhaling deeply through their nose, August lets out a breath to steady themselves. After finishing up the small stack of paperwork, they put on their coat and head out into the frigid air toward the Wolf.

Irritation swirls in their mind as they hurry along the cobbled streets of Lunaris.  _ Nobles _ , August scoffs. Who in their right mind would ever bring a  _ harp _ to the cramped room of an inn? Their lip curls as a seed of anger plants itself in their chest. Since her arrival in Lunaris, Jude had gone out of her way to poke and prod at them. Lipstick kiss marks next to her signature on  _ every _ report, swaggering in for morning meetings  _ just _ on time, the relentless (yet harmless) flirting. August knows she excels at her job, but she sets the poor Enforcer’s teeth on edge, despite the lovely baskets of wine and skin products she sends to their home in atonement.

Long legs carry them to the tavern soon enough, the last rays of the sun coloring the bar and its patrons in a golden glow. Edna gestures with an elbow toward the stairs--Jude apparently  hadn’t come down yet. 

August weaves a string of mumbled curses under their breath as they find her door, but is surprised to discover silence on the other side. If the girl had ordered a harp, why wasn’t it being played?

They rapp on the wood of the door. “Hunter Ainsowrth! Open up. I need to speak with you.  _ Now _ .” No response. August knocks harder. “I mean it, Hunter. I do not have the patience today. You have been a  _ massive _ inconvenience.” Again, nothing. Their gut lurches; something is amiss. Usually, the blonde menace would’ve surfaced with some dreadfully unfunny retort by now.

One final, loud knock. “Theodosia!” They know she absolutely abhors her first name. “I will open this door myself if I have to.” Silence once more is the response. Sighing, August lets their magic flow through their fingertips, the door opening with a small  _ click _ .

What they se inside elicits a gasp from the Enforcer. The room is nearly destroyed, everything askew, save for a large, golden harp in the middle. Piles of clothes lie on the floor, old glasses half-filled with water, an unmade bed. There is an overwhelming amount of notes, torn out pages with her elegant scrawl covering almost every open surface of the room, including the bed. August swallows--something is deeply wrong. 

August could sense Judes presence nearby, but not in the main room. They spot a small, narrow door in the back of the room with a raw and tumultuous aura pouring from it. Cautiously, they walk closer and put their hand on the door. “Jude?” Their tone is much softer, _concerned_ even. 

There's a light shuffling sound. “August?” Jude’s voice is hoarse and small, the frailness of it making August’s chest tighten. 

“Let me in, Jude. Please.” There is a small  _ tick _ as the lock turns and August gently opens the door to reveal the Hunter, in a button up shirt several sizes too big, huddled in the back corner of the closet. Her knees are tucked into her chest, her hair wild and unwashed, but as Jude’s wide eyes fly up to theirs, August’s heart seizes. 

She was absolutely gaunt, her eyes sunken in and dull, her cheeks hollow, lips red and chapped. It was no wonder Jude had been avoiding them for days. But it was more than the physical state that had them hurting for her.

August sees a small, fierce Hunter frightened to their core and brought to her knees. A strong force being eaten alive by crushing fear and anxiety.

August sees  _ themselves _ .

Jude quickly wipes her tear-stained cheeks and tries to assemble herself. Of  _ course _ it would be August who pushed through and found her. She’d been keeping Finn at bay for days, needing to focus on the mission. “August, I-I’m so  _ sorry _ , you shouldn’t have to see me in such a state, please let me wash up and I can meet you downstairs--” Cheeks burning with embarrassment, she tries to walk past them, but August stops her with a hand on her shoulder. 

“When was the last time you ate something? Or slept?” The irony of August asking this question to someone else doesn't escape them, but they push that aside to analyze at a later time. Jude looks away and wraps an arm around her middle. 

“I…” August can see her mind churning, wavering between a fib and the truth, and her shoulders sink. “A week, maybe? I’m not sure.” Her eyes flick to theirs, clearly expecting August to lash out. When they don't, she takes a shaky breath. “I’m sorry.”   
  
Perfect brows stitch together with confusion. “Why would you be sorry?” August shakes their head and sighs. “I am your Enforcer. It’s  _ my _ job to ensure you’re doing  _ your _ job, yes, but I also have to know how my Hunters are fairing and ensure they stay healthy.” Their eyes flash with something like regret, maybe. Or guilt. “I know more than anyone how...taxing this case is. I should’ve recognized the toll it was taking on you.” 

Jude’s bottom lip quivers as she looks at August, her eyes shining with tears. Despite herself, a laugh bubbles up and she looks up to try and keep the tears at bay. “You’re absolutely stunning when you show human emotion, August.” It was the truth, and Jude could never let the opportunity to fluster them pass by. She casts a sly glance at them before her face falls again, the moment of levity gone. “I keep hitting dead ends, but I know I can do  _ more _ . I can’t stop until I’m done...”

“I know,” August replies. And they  _ do _ know. It was _their_ Hunters who had tried and failed repeatedly to solve this, paying with their lives, and August were determined not to lose her too. August recognizes a strange spark of affection for the Hunter as they watch her crumble with a hurt so well known to themselves. She sinks down into a chair at the rickety table and buries her head in her hands. 

August’s eyes widen as they take in the sight of them, her fingertips red and raw. She catches them staring and sighs. “It’s the harp,” she explains, nodding over to it, the metal strings gleaming. “When I’m not going over my notes, I’m playing. When it gets too much I go in the closet. It’s been the only thing helping me lately.”

“And eating wouldn’t help?” The irony again burns bitter on their tongue. A soft and sad smile curls at Jude’s lips. 

“The hunger is a pain I can understand. Keeps me focused, tethered to this place, to the mission.” She looked down at her hands. “My fingers, my hunger….these are comforting discomforts.” They were discomforts she’d known since childhood. The pain and emptiness she’d felt as a child, yearning for a family despite having one made no sense. But hunger?  _ That _ emptiness made all the sense in the world. So she’d skip meals, sometimes entire _days_ worth of food, and played harp until her fingers bled. When she was in school and it became overwhelming, like a boulder on her chest, with shortness of breath and an inability to move for no reason, she would again go without. And again, after Tristan. It was a tangible,  _ real _ pain, the hunger, that she had control over. 

The pair look at each other, melancholy thick in the air. August reaches out and gently takes Jude’s hands in their own. Although healing magic is Ezra’s specialty, August makes easy work of the angry welts on Jude’s fingers. “I’m taking you with me. I don’t want you alone, and my house is cleaner than your hovel here.” Her cracked lips twitch into a smile, just for a moment. 

_ T _ _ here’s my Hunter. _

Jude nods in acknowledgment and August stands. “Gather what you need. I’ll meet you downstairs.”

They closes the door behind them and make their way out, turning around to find a set of fierce gold eyes watching them. 

“Augustus.” The Vampire’s voice is clipped. 

“Kazimir.” There's a tense pause. “She hasn’t been eating,” August says cooly. Finn’s eyes tighten and his jaw sets, the muscle twitching. 

“I know.” Cocking a brow, August looks over the Vampire. Genuine worry tinted his features and he shakes his head. “She doesn’t let me see her,  _ help _ her--”

“Jude will be fine.” They continue to walk down the stairs, pulling their gloves on in preparation to meet the cold. “Don’t,” they warn. They didn’t need to turn around to know that Finn was trying to see the Hunter for himself. Glaring down at them, a pointed ear twitches and his eyes narrow. 

“Is she alright?” August takes a deep breath and slightly shakes their head as they turn. 

“The mission is getting to her. She will be at my residence until I deem her fit to be on her own.” A smirk graces their lips as they sense Finn try and break mental barriers, an air of mistrust at the inability to read the Enforcer’s mind. August rolls their eyes. “She’ll have her own bedroom, Finnegan.” A beat, then: “Trust me. She needs someone who understands exactly what she’s going through. It won’t be long.”

Finn looks over August for a sizable second, then back to Jude’s door, still closed. “Fine.” He heads toward the exit of the Wolf and pauses next to August. “I’ll be there when she’s ready.” 

August huffs an amused breath. “She knows.” Finnegan nods curtly and walks out of the tavern and into the night. 

The Enforcer looks back to the door before standing outside to wait.

This Hunter they would not lose.


End file.
